Earth jumpers

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Sonnet Pasithea, COS Engineering D1, Laiv Audio Harmony; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & Gold Note monos on subwoofer; Headamp: Enleum AMP-23R; Phones: Raal 1995 Immanis; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Exact Express Flame, Furutech; Power delivery: 2 x Kinki/Vinshine Tai Hang on amps and source stack, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, AudioQuest FogLifters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
2nd system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.GRand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-M7; Loudspeakers: ModalAkustik MusikBoxx + Dynaudio S18 sub; Cable loom: Exact Express Earth; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra, Akiko Audio Corelli Corundum & Castello Solo; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Furutech cable lifts, Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
2nd headfi system: DAC: Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Magna, HifiMan Susvara
Desktop system: Source: HP Z2 work station Win11/64; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2; DAC/headamp: iFi iDSD Pro Signature; Speakers: DMAX P61 Headphones: Final D-8000, aune SR7000
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: Zu Soul VI; Subwoofer: Zu Submission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: starting at $309 contingent on length

Claim jumpers or jumper claims? 

Jumpers. Can they make a difference? We're not talking cardigans, hoodies, supplanters or Olympic athletes landing in sandpits.

We're talking hifi and the typically thick heavy metal bars which strap across biwire speaker terminals as shown. Like high-mass connectors, stock plate jumpers tend to be rather inferior to cabled alternatives. Replacing them with wires is better. Typically, using the lower terminals as our incoming speaker-cable entry is preferable because those posts cover wildly more bandwidth than the tweeter. Broader more important bandwidth gets the more direct connection.

As we scale hifi's slippery slope of evergreen hope x wilted hype, shiny promise x corroded disappointment and in general less compromise, we might get to external xovers. They could come from the dearer portfolio sections of Kaiser Acoustics, Living Voice or ModalAkustik for a few examples. Landing on the latter was no coincidence. Michael Wydra's sleek MusikBoxx in gloss-white acrylic skins recently set up residence in my smaller system. As designed, the stacked-acrylic filter boxes should hug the floor between the tripod legs of their monitor mates. Standard speaker cable enters the boxes. Four 80cm jumpers per channel exit, run straight up and connect the dipole Mundorf AMT tweeter and 6-inch Accuton mid/woofer separately. Past the elite Mundorf filter parts, their paths don't cross. Everyone stays in their lane. Divide to conquer.

Removing filter parts from the loudest part of the room—always inside the speaker cab and extra so for sealed versions like these which compound internal pressurization—not only avoids microphonics. It allows the designer ideal spacing and orientation of his caps, coils and resistors. He's no longer confined to the limited real estate inside his speaker enclosure. Not owning sufficiently long jumpers when the MusikBoxxers landed, I made do with straps custom-made for Marja & Henk's Avantgarde Duo hornspeakers. When my friends passed on, I inherited their set. To make it reach, I jerry-rigged white foam from discarded packaging as temporary riser stands. I had instant sound but my inner Feng Shui critic wasn't happy. Even my resident lounge leopard, Chai Baba the Bengal, sized them up as potential cubbyholes. He curls up tight. It's why my Ganesha sculptures blocked him from even trying. Einstürzende Neubauten¹ so wasn't on my menu.
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¹ If you knew this term as just the name of a Berlin band with lead singer Blixa Bargeld but not its meaning, it's 'collapsing new builds'.

With the speaker cables and interconnects being Exact Express Earth already—mine still brand Kinki Studio from before the later rebranding—I ordered a matching set which Vinshine Audio's team built to length. Alvin Chee was naturally curious. 80cm is unusually long for classic jumpers, very short for speaker cables. Hence his web shop offers 10-40cm options in 5cm increments. That covers most normal apps. But once he saw my photos, he understood.

For a brief detour into audiophile extremism, consider Kaliber Technology's Ulysses X5 whose +500kg fighting weight includes 120kg external crossovers in acrylic enclosures which not only contain filter parts for the 1", 4" and dual 7" drivers on the front but an active DSP crossover for the sidefiring 15" woofer. This escalates the meaning of jumpers.

Back in my world, why would short cables following long cables make a difference? Why would audiophile power cords preceded by miles of in-wall Romex? Why would a counter-top water purifier sit at the tail end and not beginning of kilometres worth of rusty pipe? It's rather self-explanatory. Plus, if we've hand-picked our speaker cables for their sonics, it makes perfect sense to continue those sonics all the way to the speaker input terminals. Don't touch the steering wheel and change course. Stay focused.

 At least that's idealistic theory.

How did crusty reality react?